President Donald Trump has said the United States would cut off all trade with Spain after the European country refused to let the US military use its bases for missions linked to strikes on Iran.
"Spain has been terrible," Trump told reporters during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, adding that he had told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to "cut off all dealings" with Spain.
"We're going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don't want anything to do with Spain," he added.
Trump's comments came after the US relocated 15 aircraft, including refuelling tankers, from the Rota and Moron military bases in southern Spain after the country's Socialist leadership said it would not allow them to be used to attack Iran.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Spain would not allow its military bases to be used because the offensive was not covered by its agreement with the United States, nor in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
Ties between Spain and the United States have been strained over issues including migration and Spain's refusal to commit to increasing the share of its spending on defence to 5 percent of its GDP, as most other European countries have done.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, one of a dwindling number of left-leaning voices in Europe, previously refused to let vessels transporting weapons to Israel dock in Spain, and last month announced plans to individually prosecute social media platform owners that include prominent Americans for toxic content.
He also wrote an op-ed in the New York Times in which he said "MAGA-style leaders" were fooling the public on the supposed evils of migration.
